Was reading "The Wave Manifesto" by Ian King on the T-nation site and was really intrigued. At the same time, I was reading Westside's article on Angelo Beradinelli, and it got me thinking. I have lifted as much as 185 for 5 reps, a 208 projected max, and 215 on the Nautilus Nitro Bench Press. Question was if I could generate enough speed to bust 215 and maybe 225 on the real deal. No amount of number crunching could tell me that. Neither can any machine, with their varying resistance curves. So, despite being scheduled for a light bench workout tomorrow, I decided to do a wave workout today based on that projected 208 max, and start deloading tomorrow.
Flat Bench Press: 105x5, 125x5, 145x4, 175x5, 210x1 (5 lbs PR over my best ever, a 3 second rep from chest to lockout), 185x4, 215x1 (10 lbs PR over my best ever, a 4 second rep from chest to lockout), 190x3, 135x10, 105x15.
When I racked 210, it felt so light in my hands that I got giddy, I knew this was mine but I didn't let myself get cocky. I tried harder to spread the bar apart and my lats flexed. It felt easy going down and when I squeezed my lats harder, the weight shot up about an inch and my arms took over. Smoke show!!! 215 felt about the same but it took me a second longer to get it. I was so happy but I didn't want to let out a whoop!!!
The overloads helped. The Nautilus Nitro helped, because I had a better "push" - - - I felt like I was pushing the whole way with no letup. I'm sure all the lat work isn't hurting any, and all the volume has conditioned me pretty good - - - one look at this workout will tell you that it was a doozy. So now, the thought turns to getting enough speed to break 225. I will drop the pushups and the barbell curls and replace them with t-bar rows and decline barbell extensions. To be honest, 225 might be mine now. I want a guarantee. That's all.
We'll see!!!
7 comments:
Congrats! I shouldn't read comments like 'two big boy wheels' just before a squat workout - now I have to wait a couple of days before I push my own bench max a bit :)
Nice one.
congratulations... hard work and determination always pays off.
Awesome job Alberto. I knew that 215 was yours. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about the Ian King Wave Loading program. I think I read the same article and at some point I'd like to implement it for a couple of weeks. Perhaps to get over a plateau somewhere. Tried to do it on my other 225 attempt, but I just think I didn't spend enough time under the bar.
225 here you come!
Stinn, loved the comment about 2 big boy wheels! LOL!
Thanks guys, it isn't anything like what you guys lift but for me, it was a big improvement. I had hit 205 on November 29 of last year for a super slow max, and never saw it again. After I figured out why, I wrote my Analysis of a Bench Press Routine in January and slowly built up my conditioning and technique. I now have a true grasp of what is required to build strength in a movement and keep it.
Christian, this program works nicely. It explained wave loading a lot better than Muscle and Fitness ever did, really helped me understand the science and setup more. Even with all the work, 215 was just as easy as 210 (in the past, 210 would have made 215 impossible), and the last two sets left my chest toasty. If you do the 2 waves like I did, I would probably do it for 2-3 weeks only so as not to fry your CNS. And do speed work, that may be your other 10 lbs right there.
dont worry about your numbers relative to others, you're absolutely right it was a great improvement - and you're always your own best comptition....
I'm a bit late in reading this post but thought I'd offer my congratulations... a 10 pound PR is nothing to sneeze at being about a 5% improvement.
I'm sure we'll be reading about your 225 soon enough.
Remember work just below your sticking point and you'll bust through it!
Who knows, if I get 225 to fly . . . .
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